MEMOIR OF AUGUSTE BRAVAIS. 147 



left its traces, mists sometimes visited it. It played no iudififerent pan 

 in this cliildisli existence. Condncted thither by his father and broth- 

 ers, it became the point to which his yet narrow observations and ex- 

 peditions were directed, thongh it reqnired fonr or five lionrs to ascend 

 and retnrn. His ambition, however, soared much higher when he saw 

 his brothers return from the Pilat, a mountain well known to naturalists, 

 bringing thence newHowers, unknown insects, and heard them describe 

 the splendors of the sun rising behind Mont Blanc. He was not ten 

 years old, and five or six hours were necessary to reach the summit. 

 Yet, having well pondered his plans, he departs alone one morning, deter- 

 mined that he also would sleep on the mountain top, and collect its 

 plants, its stones, its insects. His absence excited little inquietude at 

 home, for the sagacity with which he was accustomed to explore the 

 complicated recesses of the mountains of the Vivarais was well known ; 

 and, in fact, he returned safely the next morning with the objects 

 which he had coveted, having drunk at the source of the Gier and seen 

 the sun rise behind Mont Blanc, throwing into magnificent perspective 

 the long chain of the Alps. Here we see the embryo adventurer des- 

 tined one day to climb the perilous heights of Mont Blanc itself. 



Habits of meditation early announced the aptness which he was to 

 exert at a later period in the advancement of science. Those who fre- 

 quented the paternal mansion remember having often met a child 

 apparently absorbed in in-ofound reflection, and who, to the inquiries 

 which he excited, would naively answer: I am tlnnlang. And, indeed, 

 so active and fruitful was this habit of thought that at the age of four- 

 teen he had completed all the classical and literary courses of the Col- 

 lege of Annonay. His father now thought proper to send him to Paris, 

 that he might devote a year to rhetoric and another to philosophy in 

 the College of Stanislas. The young Auguste carried thither habits of 

 obedience and modesty which did not prevent him to be an indocile 

 ■ pupil. He pursued with the utmost exactness the prescribed studies, 

 and succeeded in acquiring that pure, clear, and precise style which 

 is the usual index of a good education ; but he did not evince for classi- 

 cal studies the ardor for which the premiums at the end of the year are 

 reserved. His predilections were directed elsewhere. Some books, 

 hidden at the bottom of his trunk, had escaped notice. These we:e 

 icorlcs on mathematics ; and these he found means of studying at night. 

 He solved problems and wrote letters fall of intelligence to M. Eeynaud, 

 the modest and learned professor of the College of Annonay, who had 

 already given him lessons in arithmetic and geometry. 



On his return from Paris he was again placed under the charge of ]\1, 

 Eeynaud, of whom he had become rather the friend than pupil, and as he 

 had been destined by his father for the Polytechnic School, a certain in- 

 sight into all that is required for admission was afforded him by the 

 lirofessor in the course of a single year. In 182<S, therefore, he ventnred 

 to present himself at Xismes for examination; but his preparation had 

 been too rapid, and he was not received. Happily for himseli" and for 

 science, the boundaries of which it was his fortune afterwards to extend, 

 he had fiillen into the hands of a discriminative examiner, M. Bonr'^ou, 

 who, while verifying the insufficiency of his studies, recognized the 

 aptitude of his genius. This excellent man, to whom many among us 

 besides owe a debt of gratitude, reflected on the futnre of this youthful 

 candidate whom he Avas obliged to reject, and, with the ingenuous ear- 

 nestness which he more than once displayed in behalf of students of 

 whom he augured favorably, pleaded with the father of Auguste, and 

 succeeded in x>ersuading him that the career of the unsuccessful appli- 



